Foster Farms Honey Crunchy Chicken Corn Dogs

March 10, 2008 | Reviewer: Abi

Foster Farms Honey Crunchy Chicken Corn Dogs Price: $4.19 per box of 6
Serving: 1 corn dog, 2.67oz.
Calories: 180
Fat: 13%, 9g
Cholesterol: 8%, 25mg
Sodium: 22%, 540mg
Protein: 7g
Carbohydrates: 6%, 19g
Fiber: 0%, 0g
Sugar: 6g
Weight Watchers Points: 4 Points

Foster Farms says: Easy to heat & eat. They’re fun-tastic anytime! Foster Farms Corn Dogs have the “just right” combination of plump, juicy hot dogs dipped in honey crunchy batter.

Abi says: I think that sometimes people get these images of Silicon Valley that are glamorous or sweatshop-like and while both of those realities exist there is also the point where 40 people say on Facebook that they are going to show up for a dinner and the location is set as the San Jose Mall’s FOOD COURT and then only 6 people show up and you think to yourself ‘Am I really having a Jamba Juice for dinner? Really?’

Of course, at the mall (don’t worry, we have since gone to actual restaurants) I was briefly entranced by Hot Dog on a Stick. I’d forgotten that they even existed and while I wasn’t about to order a hot dog on a stick or a cheese on a stick (yes, it is real) I decided that I’d get some to eat at home.

The first lesson here is that packages of corn dogs are made for people with families. The first two stores I visited they only carried 36-packs. I wanted just a hit of county-fair nostalgia, not a month of it. Eventually I lucked out with a 6-pack for $4.19. I would have purchased the 36-pack (just $9.99!) and saved the gas money, but do you think I have room in my freezer for an enormous box of corn dogs? I do not.

Unlike many a Lean Cuisine, these are not low calorie. Fortunately, they’re made with chicken, not beef. You get a chicken dog and breading for 180 calories. With a beef hot dog you don’t get breading, but you still get 180 calories. Also, these come on a wooden stick, which is fun and will remind you of your childhood. But then you’ll end up thinking about it to much and get weirded out by the sheer oddness of eating a cornbread-wrapped piece of re-formed chicken impaled on a tiny blunt stake.

My preferred cooking method for these mirrors the somewhat complicated way that I ~~make~~ heat up Morningstar Mini Corn Dogs. I bake them in the oven for ten minutes, microwave them until they are hot inside (a minute) and then bake them in the oven for another few minutes to ensure the crispiness of the cornbread layer.

Yes, I use two appliances to make corn dogs. That is the beauty of working at home. The actual hot dog itself is pleasantly chewy, but it is another one of those things that you don’t want to think about for too long. Hot dogs are consumed because it is a national holiday with fireworks, you are at the beach or you are experiencing a salt deficiency, not because they have a fantastic mouthfeel.

The unsatisfactory part of this item was the cornbread coating. It was approximately a centimeter thick and overpowered the salt of the hot dog with sugar. This is what I get for buying Honey Crunchy flavor corn dogs. Honey Crunchy is a cereal, not a proper variety of meat product.

The next time I’m craving corn dogs, I’ll look for a brand that doesn’t involve cloying sweetness. If you have a preferred corn dog style or flavor, I’d like to hear about it.

comments

11 Responses to “Foster Farms Honey Crunchy Chicken Corn Dogs”

Sarah Clayton on March 10th, 2008

Girl, I’d prefer honey crunchy to any kind of weird flavor my Dad would get, like the ones with cheese inside. They were tasty but so, SO guilt inducing… And who needs to eat such blasphemy on a family favorite as a corn dog, but put cheese on it? Sad… (Or those chocolate chip pancakes covering a sausage on a stick in a corndog fashion labeled “pancakes n sausage” Blasphemy!! I never touched those.)

If you don’t like the sweetness dear, you know what they say… or I say… MUSTARD!… Yeah that’s my motto… “MUSTARD!”
Lisa on March 10th, 2008

I have never had a corn dog. I like cornbread, and I like hot dogs (mmmmm…. tubular meats), but the two of them together sound a little nasty to me. Perhaps one day I will find out if I am wrong.
summer on March 10th, 2008

i don’t know if you can get these anywhere but i always liked the brand “state fair” at least, i think it was a brand. i found them in minnesota and in tennessee.
So Good Blog/News Round-Up 3/10/08 | So Good on March 10th, 2008

[…] Heat, Eat, Review tries Honey Crunchy Chicken Corn Dogs. […]
Julie on March 11th, 2008

I grew up in Minnesota. These things are all the rage at the various County and the MN State Fair.

Of course I hate them. All I ever wanted from the time I was a teen ager was to get the hell out and I’ve succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. But now I’m back because I was SICK OF HAVING TO LIVE WITH ROOMMATES IN SAN FRANCISCO ERG and rent in Minneapolis is really cheap. I feel very strange here though. I miss the more international nature of SF especially Asian cuisine. And it’s very FLAT here.

Sigh
Crow on March 11th, 2008

“Cloying sweetness?” Is the disgusting abomination of “High Fructose Corn Syrup” an ingredient?
Angela on March 11th, 2008

I am seconding Summer’s suggestion. I have seen the “State Fair” brand in my local grocery store (in Orange County, CA) as well. It has been a long time since I have eaten one, but I remember it being good. I too use the microwave to oven heating method.
Alex on March 12th, 2008

I have been known to eat a frozen corn dog from time to time and I would imagine that the regular variety is slightly less disgusting than the HONEYCRUNCHY mess described above.

And I would like to say that I feel your food court pain because I have been to that very food court many times myself. (I’m a Sunnyvale expat.) At least it looks nice?
Abi Jones on March 13th, 2008

@Sarah - Mustard is key. Also, I have been looking for those chocolate-chip pancaked wrapped sausages on a stick, but haven’t been able to find them. So sad.

@Lisa - You are missing out.

@Summer - I’ll look for the State Fair brand next time.

@Julie - Being from a small town/isolated place I understand the ‘need to leave’ sentiment.

@Crow - Probably, but I haven’t checked. I didn’t really want to know what was in them.

@Angela - It is all about multiple heating methods.

@Alex - It is the only food court I’ve been in with faux-marble columns.
Rose on March 13th, 2008

Do you want to know a dirty secret of mine? probably not, but here it is.
I have been mostly living off of these for..two weeks? they were on sale at my grocery store, two six packs for five bucks. I like corn dogs, I like deals. but I am almost completely sick of corndogs now, the thought makes me wants to throw up.

I also love mustard, too bad we don’t have any spicy mustard or it would make the corndog way better…I’m a little sick of yellow.
Jessica on March 13th, 2008

When I first get the corndog, I think “I LOVE me some corndogs” until about mid-dog when the thing starts cooling off and the grease has soaked into the breading so it’s ’soft n’ greasy’ on the inside and semi-crisp on the outside. That’s when I rip off the remaining breading and end up with a regular hot dog (on a stick) dipped in the perfect 50/50 mustard and ketchup combo.